3rd Shock Army

The 3rd Shock Army was a field army of the Soviet Union Red Army that lasted from 1941 to 1991. It was made up of four corps and two independent regiments, created from six rifle divisions. The 3rd Shock Army's most famous commander was Vasily Kuznetsov, a Hero of the Soviet Union.

History
The 3rd Shock Army was founded on 25 December 1941 out of the old Soviet 60th Army, made up of four corps and two independent regiments. With the special purpose of destroying enemy forces, the 3rd Shock Army was assisted by more artillery and air support than other Soviet units.

The 3rd Army failed in its attempt to encircle Theodor Scherer's German forces in the Kholm Pocket, but they assisted in the push on Velikiye Luki and into the Baltics. The 3rd Shock Army captured Riga in Latvia in 1944 before assisting in the push into East Prussia, and the 3rd Shock Army joined with the 1st Belorussian Front in the Vistula-Oder Offensive of 1945.

During the drive on Berlin, it was the 3rd Shock Army that distinguished itself. Their forces took part in the battle of Seelow Heights in mid-April 1945 and played a large role in the capture of the Berlin suburb of Pankow on 23 April, before advancing on the German capital itself. The battle of Berlin was the greatest moment for the 3rd Shock Army, whose 150th Rifle Division planted the Red Army flag over the Reichstag in victory on 30 April 1945. On 8 May 1945, the war service of the army ended as the last pockets of German resistance were crushed in Berlin.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the 3rd Shock Army remained in Berlin, with T-62 and T-55 tanks in their armory. In 1991, the army disbanded with the fall of the Soviet Union.